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The Best Sign-up Bonuses for Airline Miles Credit Cards

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Current Top Sign-Up Bonuses

Keep in mind that these bonuses come with spending requirements, usually a specific amount within a certain time frame. Returns don't count, so you have to actually make and keep the purchases. Never overreach with your finances in order to meet the minimum spending requirement for the bonus rewards. You'll never come out ahead, since rewards credit cards usually have high APRs. (See also: 5 Smart Ways to Meet a Rewards Card Minimum Spending Requirement)

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has an attractive bonus for new cardmembers. Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $625 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. You can also earn an extra 5,000 points after adding an authorized user and make a purchase within the first 3 months from account opening. Earn 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases worldwide. This card allows you to transfer points on a 1:1 value to participating frequent travel programs, which means 1,000 Chase points equal 1,000 partner miles/points. The annual fee of $95 is waived the first year.

Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card

The Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card offers 20,000 online bonus points if you make at least $1000 in purchases in the first 90 days. These bonus points can be redeemed as a $200 statement credit toward travel purchases. Earn 1.5 points per $1 spent on every purchase, with no limit to the points you can earn and no expiration date on the points. Points can be redeemed as a statement credit to pay for flights, hotels, vacation packages, and more with no blackout dates and restrictions. This card has no annual fee.

The JetBlue Plus Card

The JetBlue Plus Card offers cardholders 30,000 bonus points after spending $1000 in purchases in the first 90 days. This card also awards 6x points per dollar on JetBlue purchases, 2x points for restaurants and grocery stores, and 1x point for all other purchases. Redeem points for any seat, at any time on JetBlue-operated flights, and get 10% of your points back every time you redeem. You can also share points in a family account through the Family Pooling program. Plus, get 50% savings on eligible inflight purchases. The annual fee for the card is $99.

Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card is offering a one-time bonus of 40,000 miles once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening (equal to $400 in travel). You also earn unlimited 2x miles per dollar on every purchase, every day — and miles don't expire for the life of the account. There are no blackout dates. The annual fee of $59 is waived for the first year.

Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®

New cardholders of the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® from our partner Citi earn 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after making $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. The card offers 2x miles on American Airlines purchases and 1 mile on other purchases. Other benefits include free first checked bag, preferred boarding, and 10% redeemed miles rebate up to 10,000 per year. The annual fee is $95, waived for the first year.

Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

With the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, you earn 30,000 bonus miles after spending $1,000 within the first 3 months, plus a $50 statement credit if you make a Delta purchase within the first 3 months. This card also offers 2x miles on purchases made directly with Delta and 1x mile on other eligible purchases. Get your first checked bag free, priority boarding, and discounts on in-flight food and beverages, as well as other travel benefits. The $95 annual fee is waived for the first year. Terms apply. See rates and fees.

Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

ToniTexas #1

Did the SW card, paid my house taxes, just booked 2 round trip tickets to Seattle (from Houston)...paid a total of $20.00 for taxes!! Sweet!!!!

The Southwest Credit Card worked well for me. Charged $2k as soon as it arrived. I got 40K points, booked two free one way tickets to Denver and two free one way tickets from Salt Lake City back to Ohio for a total of $20.00 in fees. All with zero hassle and little effort. All on line. What's great about this is both my brothers did the same thing and we are headed on a family vacation to the Black Hills and Yellowstone. No blackout dates or seat restrictions. Great deal!

I always check who is servicing the cards. I still use them, but with reluctance; I thoroughly examine anything processed by FIA Card Services. They make many mistakes and are too quick to post charges improperly. In fairness they made corrections, in spite of the great stress of contacting/ reaching the staff responsible- for resolving complaints....

I hadn't previously noticed that with the Fidelity cards. I'll be sure to check my statements more closely in the future. I usually just glance at them briefly. I know what you mean about the stress/annoyance of getting things corrected on bills; I've been putting that off on one of mine for about a week now.

Dana #5

If I'm planning to use my accumulated points for future SW travel but i don't know that I will pay off the total every month. Are the hopes of using or acquiring points futile? Please advise. Thanks!

Wise Bread is an independent, award-winning, advertising-supported website. Many credit card offers that appear here are from companies from which Wise Bread receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). Wise Bread does not include all card offers in the marketplace.

Reviews by Card Issuer

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